THE STAR HOTEL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4179, 30 July 1892, Page 2

THE STAR HOTEL.

Boniface Past and Present

XilfWdOD V, RiU,. I •■■■ 1 On the Court rtsuimtig jat two to'olock yesterday afternoon, Mi Bunny briefly explained the circumstances of tflG HR. . . I Jufiua O. Eastwood, on datb, dopowd; I purchased th« SiaV Hotel from ibe defendant through ■ Messrs Dwan Bros, 1; looked through tha house previously with my wife, »o4 being satisfied made an offer of £9OO for the pl&ee ss it stood to Mr Bearl, With furniture at valuation. The offer waa refused. After the meeting of the Licensing Committee tha defendant wires to D wan Bros, and

s&ted If I would purchase.l I thee said I would only give £Bob. Tfcif Searl raiosed, ; and I eventually purchased the house at £9OO. I- gave £ ohaque of £SO to Dwaa Bros, to bine the agreement. Tha £OOO linolodec the goodwill and furniture, with stool at valuation,.and I was to [pay fcfa rates nad insuranse. I eamu npife Mastertoti After signing the agWeineht and Mr Pownail'a clerk took an inven tory of the furniture. I did opt auper viae the tuking'of the wbole.ff the in. ventory, The articles lam suing foi were included, iti ths purchase I mad) from Mr Searl, 3*he sum of £39 7a ii a fair value for these S di* covered that the articles wers> gono or; tbe aiorßing I took posaessio'tl, Soibi of tbara ware removed before X tool possession. .The defendant Jiva opposite the hotel, Imv soixie of thi articles I purchased in thej house o the defendant. Searl bought an iroi bedstead at an sketioo a»le [and seal it to my house, [ was auk&d by th» valuators to pay JES 8s for tlio stock inihe bar, 1 declined, statici; that ] h«d already paid for it, The valuators went to see Mr Searl, and , the latter stating that tha'gag fittings were hi* the amount was reduced to , £4 4s. I paid this amount and X , afterwards discovered that tbe fittings . belonged to the bouse. I j therefore claim the refund of £4 4s. |

By Mr Pownall: Ibave no knowledge whether a. claim for £4 4s |Vtag made upon the defendant. I left {be mutter ray solicitor. The owner of the house stated ihat ; the gas fittings belonged to him. Ido nod know of my own knowledge wbethei' the fittings belonged to Mr Searl or not. I gHTe the inventory of the furniture to Mr Start and be afterwards returned it to me. The clerk read roe no part of the inventory as he took it, The organ, piano, and sewing machine were the private property ofMrfiearl. They ate not in the inventory. I made no complaints when tbe inventory was taken, as I did not know what was in it.. 1 complained oaths following momintc. ■ There is a mirror missing from the drawing room, for which I claim £l. 1 elaim what I bought tn the house. The inventory j wan not taken by me. When I want over to Searl'a house on the morning after taking possession I complained to him that some of the articles were gone. He said one; of the girls mast have taken; them. I could not say whether it was bteakfaii or teatiwe when I visitedSearl's. I couUi not positively swear . to the day I complained. I did not take adtioa until Mr Searl sued me for board] because it could not be done. The articles could not bo picked out before. The whole of the articles oo th 4 inventory of goods missing were taken out of the bill of sale, ssxoeptiag a tew sheets. I wanted Searl to withdraw bis action and I would withdraw mini. I do hot remember having stated that I would not have brought this case if Searl had not sued me for board. | I did not send Elliotts to settle the matter, although I consented to hid doing so. I did Bot wish to go to Court. I saw Saarl taking over an axe toiss house, but I have not claimed fo|' that. I saw a brass bedstead and mirror in Searl'a houee which I had previously seen. in the hotel. The bedstead was removed from Mr and Mrs Searl's private bcdrdoca, Ido not know why this bedstead waa not put in the inventory. 1 saw a mirror and pictures which had codio from the private sitting and bedroom ■ I took the list of article? which I am claiming from thg bill of sale given to Caetendybo and Focko. lam claiming for tha difference in tlie articles shown in this' bill of sale rod iu the inventory, Mrs Eaafcrcoodgave evide oce conro« borative of that of the plaintiff. Mrs Sear], who was called for the defence, stated that none of the articles included in the inventory! had been

removed from the hotel since the sale. 1 hero was a. bedstead, organ, cuirior and piano left out of the inventory, some of which articles were witness' wedding presents.j By Mr Bunny; Nothing was removed from the. hotel between the times that Eastwood first yieited the place and the inventory was taken. At this stage cho Ocurt adjourned | till neut day, there being one witness ; to call for the plaintiff as to valuations. SATURDAY. On the Court jeauming, Sober t Henry Elliotte was called for the plasntiff, and gave. evidence to the effect that he had valaed certain article# for Mr Eastwood. He bad received no poller to settle the matter between him and Mr Searl, but had endeavoured to bring the parties together, I

By MrPownall t He had considerable hotel experionco, but could not tell the exact value of as; article without seeiDg it,. The valuation was. made from Mr Eastwood's description of the articles. j This closed the case for tlie plaintiff. I Mr Pownall applied for a nonsuit aa the inventory under wjbiob the action was brought wa« not the inventory taken by Mr Eastwood *ft?r paying his deposit, bat wm compiled from a bill of talc held by Matsre Caatandyke and Foeks, which had been drawn up a conaidersble time before, Hia client bad no objection to (be case procepdipg. The only tbjng waa that it was nnnecsmrj to waste the ifm# of tfcp Court by going through the evidence for thi defence when th»re was practically no case to answer, |

| Mr Bonny oppoied the nonsuit, contending that the £9OO paid by Mr Eastwood should haYacoredd all tf* articles meaiioned in the sebedal#, and further that tb« bear tUokro WW farmltire and effects, not stock, : j His" Worship said that tie osly in Ms micdbad b«bn wlist might be called' stock, the evidence of the last witn«s» (Elliott®) be ahoold eater awoninit, wUh Cosiri; eosfcs Iffy, Witnasfesf amounting to 410 4» a&o alfytwd on tbo application of Mx Powwli, ,